Q:
I recently switched to a new brand of deodorant and broke out in a rash. When I
stopped using it, the rash went away. Do you think I was simply allergic to it
or could there be harmful materials in it? I couldn’t find anything on the
label. And that got me wondering about any potential environmental issues as
well.
A: Your concern is well-placed. There are no health
studies required for cosmetic and personal care products in the United States
and Canada. And since we use an average of 10 such products per day, possibly
involving over 100 chemical ingredients, they are cause for concern in terms of
both human health and the environment, whether they are absorbed through our
skin, rinsed down the drain or flushed down the toilet after working their way
through our bodies.
Studies finding disruption in the hormone systems of wildlife
due to common water pollutants usually include personal care products, rinsed
down drains and into rivers, as a major cause. As for personal health, the
experts say that the amount of chemical found in any one consumer product is
unlikely to cause harm when used once, except to the most sensitive individuals.
In fact, that’s the argument used by the cosmetic industry to justify chemical
ingredients in their products. But we use personal care products daily, often
without much thought, and are repeatedly and regularly exposed to industrial
chemicals from many other different sources.
Some chemicals found in a variety of cosmetics – including
phthalates, acrylamide, formaldehyde and ethylene oxide – are listed by EPA and
the state of California as carcinogens or reproductive toxins.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has researched and
advocated on personal care product safety for five years now. It has compiled an
electronic database of ingredient labels for 14,100 name-brand products and
cross-linked it with 37 toxicity or regulatory databases. They found that more
than one-third of all personal care products contains at least one ingredient
linked to cancer, that 57 percent of all products contain “penetration enhancer”
chemicals that can drive other ingredients faster and deeper into the skin to
the blood vessels below and that 79 percent of all products contain ingredients
that may contain harmful impurities like known human carcinogens. Impurities are
legal and unrestricted for the personal care product industry.
Half of all cosmetic
products contain added fragrance, complex mixtures of chemicals, some
persistent, some neuro-toxic and some newly found to harm wildlife.
Incredibly, the EWG estimates that the industry has publicly
assessed only 11 percent of the 10,500 ingredients the government has documented
in personal care products.
Phthalates – a group of industrial chemical plasticizers linked
to birth defects that are used in many cosmetic products from nail polish to
deodorant – are of particular concern. Last summer, when scientists published a
study finding a relationship between phthalates and feminization of U.S. male
babies, they named fragrance as a possible culprit. Phthalates are not listed as
ingredients on product labels; they can only be detected through laboratory
analysis. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC) – a coalition of environmental,
social justice, and consumer groups – has found that two-thirds of health and
beauty products recently analyzed by the FDA contained phthalates. Two of the
most toxic phthalates, DBP and DEHP, have been banned from cosmetics products
sold in the European Union (EU) but remain unregulated in the US.
Another class of harmful chemicals commonly found in cosmetics
is parabens, short for “para hydroxy-benzoate.” Parabens have been identified as
estrogenic and disruptive of normal hormone function. These preservatives are
widely used in cosmetics, particularly nail polish. Estrogenic chemicals mimic
the function of the naturally occurring hormone estrogen and exposure to
external estrogens has been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer. When
parabens were found in human breast tumor tissue recently, researchers
questioned if deodorant was the source.
Fragrance is another big problem. EWG’s research also shows that
50 percent of all products on the market contain added fragrance – complex
mixtures of chemicals, some persistent, some neurotoxic and some newly found to
harm wildlife. Researchers at Stanford University published work in 2004 showing
that mussels lost their ability to clear their bodies of poisons when exposed to
parts-per-billion levels of common fragrance musks.
The American Academy of Dermatology says that more than 5,000
different fragrances are used in perfumes and skin products, in hundreds of
chemical combinations. But because the chemical formulas of fragrances are
considered trade secrets, companies aren’t required to list their ingredients.
Twenty years ago, the National Academy of Sciences targeted fragrances as one of
the six categories of chemicals that should be given high priority for
neurotoxicity testing. Their report states that 95 percent of chemicals used in
fragrances are synthetic compounds derived from petroleum. They include benzene
derivatives, aldehydes, and many other known toxics and sensitizers. Propylene
glycol is a common ingredient in fragrances and is considered an immunotoxic
chemical. Others include cyclohexanol, which has a depressive action on the
central nervous system; linalool, which has been shown to provoke ataxic gait,
depression and respiratory disturbances; methyl ethyl ketone, which can induce
unconsciousness, emphysema, congestion of the liver and kidneys, eye, nose and
throat irritation, and numbness of the extremities; and formaldehyde, which is a
known carcinogen with many other damaging traits.
Although the U.S. FDA does not require safety testing on
cosmetics, they do require companies to post a warning label on personal care
products that have not been safety tested. After pressure from the EWG, the EPA
warned companies to comply with the law or face persecution. Should companies
comply, EWG estimates that over 99 percent of cosmetic products would have to be
labeled.
According to Health Canada’s Cosmetics Programme, “only
ingredients that do not pose an unreasonable health and safety risk to the
Canadian public, when used according to directions, are allowed in cosmetic
products.” Like the U.S., cosmetic companies are not required to submit
information on the safety of their products or ingredients, but merely to notify
Health Canada of the ingredients. To help cosmetic manufacturers satisfy this
requirement, Health Canada has developed the Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist – a
list of substances that are restricted and prohibited in cosmetics. Changes are
underway to Canada’s Cosmetics Regulation that will require companies to notify
consumers of the full ingredients of cosmetic products.
Under pressure from lobby groups (including cancer prevention
organizations, which are, ironically, often supported by cosmetic companies),
the industry seems to be cleaning up its act voluntarily. L’Oréal, Revlon,
Unilever, Avon, Procter and Gamble and Estée Lauder have said they have removed
phthalates from their products.
In 2003, the European Union passed an amendment to its Cosmetics Directive,
which requires companies doing business in Europe to eliminate chemicals that
are known or strongly suspected of being carcinogens, mutagens or reproductive
toxins. Of the thousands of questionable chemicals in these products, the
directive targets about 450. (Compare that to the nine chemicals the FDA has
banned or restricted in personal care products.)
In the face of no federal regulation of cosmetic ingredients,
California followed the EU’s lead and passed the California Safe Cosmetic Act of
2005. This bill requires manufacturers selling cosmetic products in California
to provide the state Department of Health Services with a list of their products
and to identify products that contain chemicals identified as carcinogens or
reproductive toxins. The bill faced tough opposition from major cosmetics
companies, including Mary Kay.
You might be able to avoid harmful ingredients in cosmetics and
other personal care products used by your family by choosing brands that are
certified organic. However, be cautious because nowhere does the idea of
“natural” or “organic” take a more gratuitous bruising than in the skin care
industry. A product is not guaranteed to be nature just because the label
contains the phrase “derived from …(some natural substance).”
Learn More
There's Lead in Your Lipstick by Gillian Deacon (Penguin Canada,
2011)
A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients by Ruth Winter (Three Rivers
Press, 1999)
Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me by Paula Begoun (Beginning
Press, 2003)
Don’t Go Shopping for Hair Care Products Without Me by Paula Begoun
(Beginning Press, 1995)
Skin Deep - Environmental Working Group 1436 U St. N.W., Suite 100,
Washington DC 20009 www.ewg.org
Think Before You Pink - Breast Cancer Action 55 New Montgomery St., Suite
323, San Francisco CA 94105
www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org
What To Do About Chemicals in Cosmetics
Here are some things you can do to protect you and your family from
ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products that may pose risks:
- Use fewer products. Is there something you can cut from your daily
routine, or a product you can use less often? By cutting down on the number
of chemicals contacting your skin every day, you will reduce any potential
health risks associated with your products.
- Use the “Custom Shopping List” feature of the Skin Deep website
www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2/index.php to find products that have fewer
potential health issues.
- Read labels. Marketing claims on personal care products are not defined
under the law, and can mean anything or nothing at all, including claims
like organic, natural, hypoallergenic, animal cruelty free and fragrance
free. Read the ingredient label carefully to find evidence that the claims
are true.
- Use milder soaps. Soap removes dirt and grease from the surface of your
skin, but also strips away your body’s own natural skin oils. Choosing a
milder soap may reduce skin dryness and your need for moisturizers to
replace oils your skin can provide naturally.
- Minimize or eliminate your use of dark hair dyes. Many contain coal tar
ingredients that have been linked to cancer in some studies.
- Cut down on your use of powders; avoid the use of baby powder on
newborns and infants. A number of ingredients common in powder have been
linked to cancer and other lung problems when they are inhaled. FDA warns
that powders may cause lung damage if inhaled regularly.
- Choose products that are fragrance free. Fragrances can cause allergic
reactions. Products that claim to be “fragrance free” on the packaging may
not be. They could contain masking fragrances that give off a neutral odor.
Read the ingredient label – in products truly free of fragrance, the word
“fragrance” will not appear there.
- Reduce or eliminate your use of nail polish. It’s one of the few types
of products that routinely contains ingredients linked to birth defects.
Paint your toenails and skip the fingernails. Paint nails in a
well-ventilated room, or outside, or avoid using nail polish altogether,
particularly when you are pregnant. Browse the Skin Deep custom shopping
guide for advice on nail polishes that contain fewer ingredients of concern.
- Join the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (www.safecosmetics.org),
a broad coalition of environmental and public health groups that is working
with manufacturers to encourage reformulations and safer ingredients.
Information provided by the Environmental Working Group
Wendy Priesnitz is
the Editor of Natural Life Magazine and a journalist with over 35 years of
experience. She has
also authored nine
books.
Visit her
website.
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